Judy Turner’s Bill would allow compulsory paternity tests

This is a Coup.Â UnitedFuture’s Judy TurnerÂ managed to by-pass the normal members ballot (where it is very unlikely to ever get drawn) and got leave of the House to get her Private members Bill straight on the order paper to allow the family courts to order paternity testing on request of fathers and/or ‘fathers’.

There was concern that there would beÂ appeals and delays from mothers who opposed if it goes to family court for the order – so it is worth noting that the Bill as it stands says that there is no right to appeal a paternity order!

My feelings are that upon request and provided the father has not tacitly accepted the baby as his, it becomes an entitlement. By tacit I mean been in a relationship with the child’s mother, and supported the baby both emotionally and physically for a period of say 6 months or more.

Child support is not levied until any DNA test is completed.

Payment is by the “Loosing” party. i.e. Paternity confirmed, the father. Paternity disproven, the mother.

I believe the mother should be limited in her number of attempts to name the father, then treated in DPB as a refusal to name issue.

Failure or refusal of the mother to produce the child when required (Ordered) results in the automatic assumption that the male is not the real father.

Provision is made for either the mother or father to “Pay off” the net cost of any debt.

Can’t you just see the way the IRD will handle this.
“Even though we accept the fact that you are not legally responsible for paying child support,you must realise that you will have to go through an administrative review.That way our review officers can decide whether to let you off the hook or not.In the mean time,you must still continue meeting your child support costs.The review will go ahead in three months time.We will inform you of the results within another three months.
Yours sincerely
B Warned”

Alastair, are there good reasons why “tacit acceptance” for 6 months or any amount of time should remove the right to obtain a DNA test? Doesn’t that mean that a mother only has to lie and con for long enough in order to stay in control of who pays her? And leaving the question of paternity unresolved is not going to be good for the child and especially the child’s relationship with the “father”.

Also, I wonder if it would be better to punish mothers through fines, imprisonment etc if they fail to produce the child for testing. Simply assuming the man is not the father may be punishing the child more than the mother.

How are mothers treated on the DPB when they refuse to name the father?

The 6 months is an arbitary time. I thought put in place to cover the mother “Playing around” from a seemingly stable relationship. I agree there are major issues when a father child bond is possibly severed. Equally I was seeking simplicity where the mother does not produce the child for testing. Simply absolving the father from responsibility, ever appears as good a way as any without also punishing the child to much. To me this was always a consideration.

Sorry for my confusion Alastair, but what are you getting at by the idea of including a 6-month or any duration tacit acceptance escape clause to cover a mother playing around on her partner? I don’t quite follow. Also, an assumption that a man is not the father would justify discontinuation of any visits or relationship between the father and child, a potentially devestating outcome for the child and not only in cases where the alleged father was the biological father. Can you expand on your reasoning here?

The situation I was trying to protect against was where we have an established family, mum has a fling, they get back togethern has a baby, says it is his and (Time) later she takes of with boyfriend, and demands CS from X husband.

Thinking more I probably got to complicated. ANY man receiving a CS assessment is entitled to a DNA test.

Simple, effective. The “Looser” having to pay should act as a limiting factor and not leave the taxpayer with a bill.

I dont want to pay child support because my Ex wont let me see my kids. I have to get up at 3am in the morn and get my butt to work because my ex deserves an all expenses paid life making out shes the hurt one. Shes forever hurting my kids just because she knows it hurts me too. She likes drinking alcohol too. My kids are missing school and my son is having trouble learning. But their mother finds her cheap shots at me are more important. My kids are suffering and being mislead because she hates me. And all the while I cant see my kids. I may sound somewhat of a cliche but living my life under these idiotic conditions is having harsh consequences. Spare a thought for those of us who do give a damn about our children. All the while my ex is telling everyone that shes looking after my children. When in reality …. its those of us who get our butts outa bed at 3am in the morn that do. Nice going Ex. Your life is paid in full.

Leave a Reply

Please note that comments which do not conform with the rules of this site are likely to be removed. They should be on-topic for the page they are on. Discussions about moderation are specifically forbidden. All spam will be deleted within a few hours and blacklisted on the stopforumspam database.

This site is cached. Comments will not appear immediately unless you are logged in. Please do not make multiple attempts.

Latest Comments

Downunder Mon 19th March 2018 at 9:17 pm on Judge Timothy Druce@Bradley What feminist journalists do is write emotively, usually to create sympathy. That's actually fiction writing, not journalism, which is (...)

Ministry of Men's Affairs Mon 19th March 2018 at 8:44 pm on Judge Timothy DruceDJ Ward @24: Well said. Law graduates will probably be in their early 20s at the youngest. The age of (...)

Evan Myers Mon 19th March 2018 at 8:43 pm on Judge Timothy DruceA student having finished year 13 at school is expected to be able to handle the work place. A law (...)

DJ Ward Mon 19th March 2018 at 7:23 pm on Judge Timothy Druce#bradley. The only question is the legal one. Was she too pissed to consent. If the answer is yes then (...)

Evan Myers Mon 19th March 2018 at 6:09 pm on Education Issues in 2018Matamata College suspends students for encouraging and filming an assault. This is one the media can take straight to the (...)

voices back from the bush. Mon 19th March 2018 at 3:58 pm on The Psychology of Modern WomanWe have this social problem of domestic violence, according to feminists- all violence is a male construct and when females (...)

Bevan Berg Mon 19th March 2018 at 3:36 pm on Public trust in NZ’s judical systemWhat we see now is an argument between lawyers and politicians as to who might investigate moral issues in the (...)